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New Indiana Data Hub Tracks State, Local Government Effectiveness

Gov. Mike Pence said he wanted state and local government databases and transparency websites combined into a single, easy-to-use performance-monitoring center that could reveal overlooked efficiencies and track the progress of his "road map" goals.

by Dan Carden, McClatchy News Service
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July 22, 2014

Already a mainstay of businesses and baseball teams, "big data" has arrived in Indiana, which hopes to improve the effectiveness of state agencies and local governments — and Hoosiers can play along.

The new Indiana Management and Performance Hub website pulls together revenue, spending, goals, standards, reports and other data from every level of government in the state and displays the results using graphs and charts that show how well government works.

For every dollar Indiana spent on tax collection between April and June it took in $245 in revenue. MPH also shows the Department of Revenue was much more efficient in October through December 2012, collecting $292 per dollar of expense.

Are you satisfied with the Bureau of Motor Vehicles?

The BMV earned a 96.1 percent customer satisfaction rating in April, probably because the average visit time — also on MPH — was just 13.45 minutes.

Think there's too much government in Lake County? There's a lot: 75 local units, including school corporations, employ 27,788 workers and collected $714 million in local taxes, according to MPH. In Porter County, 7,270 people working at 44 units took in $187 million in revenue.

MPH was developed by the Indiana Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Technology following an executive order issued in March and receipt of a $500,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment supporting the effort.

Gov. Mike Pence said he wanted the various state and local government management databases and transparency websites combined into a single, easy-to-use performance-monitoring center that could reveal overlooked efficiencies and track the progress of his "road map" goals.

The Republican said the MPH website at in.gov/mph continues Indiana's tradition of open and accountable government that "moves at the speed of business."